Rotating element sheet material is mainly used as reusable paper that can be manipulated to display images, text, and the like. It generally consumes low power because it only requires power when the rotating elements must be rotated and it can be reused thousands of times, making it an attractive reusable resource. Examples include electronic readers in which text and images can be changed by manipulating rotating elements in the sheet material to display the desired text and images. In this example, the rotating elements display various colors and oftentimes include two color choices. Depending on the manner in which the rotating elements are aligned, different colors that vary across a wide spectrum of colors can be displayed as the desired text and images. The limitation that the rotating element sheet material displays colors limits its use beyond display elements and has prevented this technology from becoming widely adopted.
Some attempts have been made to expand the utility of the rotating element sheet material, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 7,133,183 to Rabinowitz, entitled “Micro-Optics Solar Energy Concentrator,” which is primarily concerned with solar concentrator micro-mirror cavities found in a single sheet, rather than two sheets, so that accurate alignments and near frictionless rotation can be achieved for purposes of reflecting light onto solar collection panels for improving solar power efficiency. This application is also very narrow and specific to solar energy collection.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an improved rotating element sheet material that is capable of broad applications.